FAILED

apena7

i didn't pass with a score of 525. there were too many scenario questions, which i knew i was unprepared for since books hardly cover those aspects of troubleshooting a network of mixed OS and NOS.

there were no questions on the OSI seven layer model.

only 1 question that had to do with media and topology.

1 question involving ipconfig.

no questions with apple.

i don't know how else to study since i was getting high 90s on practice exams (from four different sources). my future in IT is looking questionable.

Slowhand

Sorry to hear that you didn't pass, but don't let it get you too down. First thing's first, try to focus on your weak areas. You said that the scenario questions were the ones that gave you a hard time, maybe you should try to recreate some of those scenarios to see if you can figure them out. Or, at the very least, go look up similar situations and try to work though the problems. You said you had several study-references, and you'll find lots of suggestions on this forum as to what books are worthwhile for the Network+ test. You can also look into getting some computer-based traning (CBT) in the form of CBT Nuggets or TestOut, which could give you a better perspective of some of the topics than books, alone, could.

The only other thing that'll help you pass this test is the amount of hands-on experience you have. Do you work in IT, have you done any home networking? If you don't have any direct working experience, then try to set up a home-lab with some basic equipment. For the Network+ exam, you'll really only need a basic router and switch, maybe a couple of Virtual PC or VMWare installs of a few systems you can network together, if you don't have the physical boxes to do it. You don't need anything fancy or complicated to start, just a couple of systems (virtual or physical) and some basic networking equipment (switch, router, cables,) and get some hands-on work done. It all makes much more sense when you've had to work through various scenarios and set-ups and you know how various tools and applications work. Go through the objectives on the Network+ page to see what you need to learn, and go from there.

Take some time, get things in perspective, and give yourself some time to study your weak areas. You'll pass it next time around, and we'll all be looking forward to your "I Passed. . ." post here on the forum.